Mated Girl (Wolf Girl #4)(3)

“I hope that never happens, but if it does, that baby boy will have a long and happy life,” Willow promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“Me too,” Rab said. “We will provide for him and protect him with our lives, as if he were our own.”
A huge weight lifted off of me then. That was what I needed to hear. Now I was ready to go fight for my man.
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The horses that the Paladins kept on the back side of the land had grazed the wild grasses and drank from the stream over the past year, so they were in pretty good shape. Sage was able to convince two of them to wear a saddle, so we were in luck. It had been a year since either had been ridden, but they seemed okay with it, other than some twitchy tails. I couldn’t go into Wolf City and get a car and just drive on over to Troll Village, so this was the next best thing. Saying goodbye to the Paladin Village this morning had been hard. Our two wolf packs were trying to start fresh, and I was supposed to be their leader and I was leaving. But I had to do this.
Because I was linked to this land, I knew our territory without even looking down for the blue stone crushed path. I felt it like a guideline just under my skin. Some parts felt and smelled like home and the others were foreign. Not that it mattered much since the Ithaki had broken the peace agreement and we were at war with everyone. But, luckily, it was a short trek through the Wild Lands on horseback and to the edge of Troll Village.
The problem was that Marmal’s farm was at the very outer edge, near Vampire City, and we were going to have to come up through the entire village to find her. Once we stepped inside troll territory, it would be a full day’s ride. I’d painted Sage’s face with blue paint and dressed her to look like a Paladin trader. Wearing deer skin that barely covered our asses was no big deal after our year in the woods. We’d also braided our hair and tied two carved bone ornaments onto the ends. We had some goods to sell that Willow had hooked us up with, and most importantly I was wearing my cuffs. No one should be able to smell what I was, other than a wolf. The face paint and deep hood over my head should also hide my identity if I was on some wanted list.
We guided the horses up a steep hill through the last stretch of Wild Lands and I was pleased to see the small rock fence at the top indicating a territory change.
Troll Village, here we come.
“Owww wooaaaw!” an unfamiliar voice shouted a battle cry from the trees.
“Ithaki!” Sage barely got the warning out when an arrow whizzed past my head and sank into the ground, right in front of my horse. My mare reared upward, as I tightened my thighs around her to hold on, and gripped the reins for dear life.
Dammit! Those bastards.
Pulling a throwing knife from my thigh holster, I spun my horse around and eyed a streak of red cloth in the treetop.
“Hiya!” I spurred my horse lightly and she took off running in the direction of the Ithaki hiding in the tree. Throwing the knife, there was a yelp. A woman dressed in red rags fell backward out of the tree, clutching her chest, and hit the ground with a thud, dying instantly.
I’d killed many squirrels that way in the Dark Woods.
I relaxed a little, releasing the breath I’d been holding.
“Look out!” Sage screamed just as what felt like a boot thudded into my back and I went flying off my horse. I spun awkwardly in mid-air, falling backward just in time to see the vampire-Ithaki sailing through the air after me. He was covered in dirt camouflage, but I could smell him, that metallic vampire smell mixed with hot wires for fey magic. The air whooshed out of me as I hit the ground hard, and for a second I couldn’t catch my breath. It felt like my lung collapsed, but I’d had the wind knocked out of me enough times to know that wasn’t the case.
Dammit. We didn’t need this, not so early in our journey. From the grunts and noises of struggle just beyond, it sounded like Sage was in her own battle. I had about two seconds to decide whether I should take off my cuffs and blast this bastard into powder but expose my scent, or keep covered and kick his ass in my human form.
I decided that he still might not know who I was and just attacked because we were wolves and he was a dick.
‘Stay covered,’ my wolf agreed.
Finally, I was able to suck in a lungful of air before the bastard reached me. With a grunt, the Ithaki and I crashed together. He landed on top of me, but I was able to get my legs up in time so that he crashed into the bottom of my boots. Kicking out with all my might, I launched him off of me as he screeched, arcing through the air before he hit the ground with a thud. Knowing I had only seconds to act or he’d be on me again with his vampire speed, I popped up onto my feet and threw myself forward. Pulling a stake from behind my back, the one I always now kept in my waist belt, I grappled with him as he reached for me.
Grabbing my right stake arm, he grunted, trying to keep me from stabbing the shit out of him. His fingers pressed so hard into my wrist that I whimpered, afraid it would snap. He was inhumanly strong, and I was very much human level strength right now, which was annoying.
‘Plan B. Take off the cuffs,’ my wolf said.
‘You read my mind,’ I growled, trying to reach for my cuff with my free arm just as the vamp-fey froze, a guttural breathy grunt leaving his lips as blood dripped from his mouth. I looked down just in time to see the front tip of a stake poking through his chest. Glancing back up, my gaze met Sage’s.
“Thanks.” I breathed a sigh of relief as the dude went crashing to the ground. A black network of veins crawled up his neck and his skin sank in as he started to decompose.